Happy New Year Everyone!

This yellow admiral is one of the very few butterflies I have seen this season. It looks pristine, so perhaps it has fed on the nettles I’ve been protecting under the firs.

Today has been the worst yet for smoke from the Australian bush fires more than 2000 kms away. In the morning the haze was thick enough to make the mountains look flat. See extra shot. By late afternoon the mountains had disappeared altogether. The light has been eerie. There appears to be low clouds, but it is hot and dry. How much worse for our Australian cousins living with the fires, with the worry and fear. My wish for the new year is for the fires to stop.